January 17, 2011
Dear Family
Well, another week has come and gone. I've officially been a missionary for over a year! That's really weird to think about... And this year will probably fly by even faster. I'm super excited to see you all in a year, or probably less. This week has been ok. It was long, but ok. We were able to find a few lessons this week, but nothing that stuck. Dainus came to church yesterday and that was good to see him. He hasn't been able to meet for a few weeks because he's been busy. He said we could meet later this week as well, so that should be good. Sorry, but there really wasn't much else that happened this week. Just a normal week. Lots of knocking on doors and talking to people on the streets. Sometimes it's hard to stay optimistic and not get discouraged when it's just cold and no one wants to listen. But your emails really helped this week and I was grateful for the things that you said. It always lifts my spirits to hear from you. This last week for district meeting I talked about goal setting cause that is what everyone wanted me to teach on. I think that it went well. I have been doing a lot of studying on it because of the New Year, so I had a lot of info to share. We have been setting a lot of goals as a district and I think that that has been helpful. We have been setting weekly goals for what we want to accomplish with the work, physical goals, like working out, and memorizing scriptures every week. I wanted to do that cause I remember how helpful it was when mom had us memorize scriptures. So, I hope all of those things help. Ok, well that was my week. Not much happened.
I hope you are all enjoying life right now cause you won’t be young forever. Dad, I really appreciated your thoughts on missionary work this week. I know that my experience is way different than those in other places of the world, and it is kind of hard not to get jealous sometimes. I know that this is for me, but hard things are just hard! I am grateful to be here though and I want to help these people. It is comforting to think of the story of Ammon and his brothers... They really went through a lot and their trials are a lot worse than the things that I have gone through. I just hope that I can have the faith that they had and really be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to work miracles. I want to be able to do a ton of good this year. I am so grateful for the plan that God has created for us so that we can live with our families forever. At times when I get down cause I want to be with you, I just remind myself that I will get to be with you forever. Thanks for being awesome. I will be praying for your success and happiness in all things. Love ya tons. :)
Love, Elder Leishman
369 days down, 362 days to go!
